Game worked fine, now wont start | Forums

[Urban-Violence]

Hi, I just got the game, at first install. The game worked flawlessly, I played it for about an hour and then went to dinner. Quitting the game and leaving my pc on.

When I came back I clicked on the shortcut, the DVD spun up, it started to load but then the screen went black for less then a second and it crashed back to desktop without any error message or warning. I didnt change any settings for files from when I first installed/played it.

After reading around the forum I tried a few "fixes".

First I ran the repair option from the installer and then re-applied the patches. Didn't work.

Then I cleared up some room on my hard drive to get it up to 15% free. Defragged, set my paging file to 4096 min and max and cleared temp folders. Didn't work.

I uninstalled it, re-installed it. Re-applied patches, still wont start.

I uninstalled/ re-installed, re-patched again and re-installed dx 9.0c. Didn't work.

The thing that baffles me is why did it just stop starting when it worked perfectly the first time with no problems at all, solid 60 fps with very little stutter.


Specs:
Windows XP Pro, SP 2 all updates
AMD AThalon 64 3800+
nVidia 8600 GTS 256mb, latest drivers (may 07)
realtek onboard sound, latest drivers
Abit KN8 v1.1 nForce 4 motherboard, latest drivers/ bios
1gb ram
120 mb HDD
Directx 9.0c

I am really at a lost as what to do. The game ran fine and now without warning doesn't even start. Load, black screen for 1/2 second, crash to desktop with no error.

[Urban-Violence]

Hi, I just got the game, at first install. The game worked flawlessly, I played it for about an hour and then went to dinner. Quitting the game and leaving my pc on.

When I came back I clicked on the shortcut, the DVD spun up, it started to load but then the screen went black for less then a second and it crashed back to desktop without any error message or warning. I didnt change any settings for files from when I first installed/played it.

After reading around the forum I tried a few "fixes".

First I ran the repair option from the installer and then re-applied the patches. Didn't work.

Then I cleared up some room on my hard drive to get it up to 15% free. Defragged, set my paging file to 4096 min and max and cleared temp folders. Didn't work.

I uninstalled it, re-installed it. Re-applied patches, still wont start.

I uninstalled/ re-installed, re-patched again and re-installed dx 9.0c. Didn't work.

The thing that baffles me is why did it just stop starting when it worked perfectly the first time with no problems at all, solid 60 fps with very little stutter.


Specs:
Windows XP Pro, SP 2 all updates
AMD AThalon 64 3800+
nVidia 8600 GTS 256mb, latest drivers (may 07)
realtek onboard sound, latest drivers
Abit KN8 v1.1 nForce 4 motherboard, latest drivers/ bios
1gb ram
120 mb HDD
Directx 9.0c

I am really at a lost as what to do. The game ran fine and now without warning doesn't even start. Load, black screen for 1/2 second, crash to desktop with no error.

[Urban-Violence]

Ok I figured it out, whenever I run the single player game (DVD version). The game creates the registry key, HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Valve/Source/mm.

And when this key is present the DVD version of the game will not start. So for me to play the game, everytime I want to play single player I need to open regedit and delete this key. Annoying since it resets the video options.

I'm baffled as to why this key is even being created when I run the game, seeing as I never once started Steam since I bought the game. Also I'd like to know why this registry key prevents the game from starting.

Anyways anyone whose having troubles launching the single player DVD version, try deleting the above mentioned registry key.

NOTE: Perhaps you guys should look into patching this bug, and it is a bug since I tested it 6 times in a row and it happened each time. The game would create the key, game wont start, I delete the key, game starts and runs fine but creates this key, game wont start, rinse and repeat.

I could recreate this bug all day long, it happens everytime I run the game.

Once again, I never once started Steam or tried to update via steam. I installed the downloaded patches from filefront.

[BlindNero]

That key stores your game's settings. It is recreated everytime, following the current settings you made in game's options. If the game only runs when you first delete the reg key, it indicates that one of the settings you are using is wrong.

Post them please (settings export from registry) and your dxdiag, see this thread: DARK MESSIAH Installation and Troubleshooting Instructions [POST 19].

[Urban-Violence]

Wrong? I don't think so, when it starts the game runs smooth as freshly churned butter. Quick load times, consistent (fast)frame rate with next to no stuttering (very occasionally).

I'd agree with you that a setting is wrong if the game ran poorly, but it's not which means the culprit is probably something else. Even if the settings were wrong, it shouldnt prevent the game from starting at all.

This is obviously an application bug, and it should be addressed.

Pointing people to your beloved sticky thread only really helps identify a problem, not fix it.

[BlindNero]

For instance, having a 16:10 aspect ratio resolution will (try to) work for some time but it is not supported by the game, so there you go.
Again, if you are posting for assistance please post the requested info (instead of that attitude).